What went wrong at San Jose? According to a complaint filed with Rockford's Liquor Control Commission late last week, the melee that occurred outside the State Street nightclub that left two dead and several injured was no accident.

The complaint, which is pending before the commission, states that on the night of the fight that started at the San Jose Cultural Center and spilled onto the streets of Rockford, the bar drastically deviated from its city-approved security plan.

According to the plan, San Jose is supposed to be using Security Professionals of Illinois to provide security for the bar. SPI is run by a former city cop and U.S. Marine. The firm is licensed by the state.

On the night of the shooting, Nov. 3, San Jose was hosting its Second Annual Bring Me Back 90s House Party Jam. The firm providing security that night was Juarez Security Company, which is not licensed by the state, according to city records.

Per its liquor license application, the nightclub also stated that it would adhere to a strict dress code prohibiting t-shirts, baggy or torn jeans, baseball caps, jerseys, shorts and sneakers. On the night of the shooting, the complaint states that numerous persons were in blatant violation of the dress code.

Also according to the complaint, the San Jose Cultural Center allowed numerous patrons to openly display and be photographed displaying criminal street gang signs while at the nightclub that night.

Despite that behavior, the complaint states, the patrons were allowed to remain at the club.

For those reasons, City Attorney Jennifer Cacciapaglia was ready to seek revocation of San Jose's liquor license at a hearing Wednesday. Her other option was to revoke its nightclub use and require the establishment to operate within restricted hours.

Instead, San Jose attorney Chuck Prorok arrived and informed the city of the owners' intent to voluntarily give up its liquor license and permanently close the club, which opened in late 2010. Prorok said the owners, the Macias family - who run the San Jose Taqueria restaurant across the street from the nightclub - have no plans to re-open the space.

"They are very upset about what happened," Prorok said.

The full agreement to settle the case should be presented to the liquor commission for its review next week. Part of that agreement will include any fines San Jose will have to pay to the city for its response to the multiple shootings and car crashes.

The city had some problems with the nightclub in recent months, Cacciapaglia said, but those problems - police having to respond to disturbances or fights at the club - were not deemed violations of the nightclub's security plan.

Had the hearing took place, Cacciapaglia said she was prepared to present evidence that San Jose replaced SPI without the city's knowledge with an inferior security firm that was not able to handle security at 450-person night-club.

"SPI is far well beyond the expertise of the firm they had in place," she said.